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Where does your organization stand?

Most industrial companies know how to engineer products. Fewer know how to validate that the market wants them. This framework shows where your organization stands, and what it takes to close the gap.

Developed from 45+ engagements across industrial, financial, and infrastructure sectors.

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Innovation maturity level

Six levels of market-readiness, from engineering-led guesswork to systematic market validation.

  1. 0 Legacy Operator Technology-first, market-last
  2. 1 Siloed Experimenter Isolated initiatives, no system
  3. 2 Checklist Novice Process exists, conviction doesn't
  4. 3 Guided Practitioner Market evidence is starting to drive decisions
  5. 4 Integrated Partner Innovation is embedded in how the company operates
  6. 5+ Strategic Visionary Market-driven innovation is the company's competitive advantage

Legacy Operator

Technology-first, market-last

Decisions are driven by internal technical consensus rather than market evidence. Products are built because engineering can build them, not because customers asked for them. There is no structured way to validate demand before committing resources.

Typical signs

  • “We spent two years developing this and the client didn't want it.”
  • “The roadmap is set by engineering, not by what customers are asking for.”
  • “We only talk to customers after the product is finished.”
  • “Show me the guaranteed ROI before you start.”

Activities

Sequential development with no market checkpoints. Long, isolated requirements gathering phases driven by internal opinion.

Results

Products built on assumptions. High rate of features that don't match market needs.

Strengths

  • Strong operational discipline and process adherence
  • Clear decision-making hierarchy and accountability
  • Proven ability to deliver on established commitments

Growth areas

  • Decisions driven by internal technical consensus without market validation
  • Customer contact limited to post-sale support issues
  • Long development cycles with no intermediate market checkpoints

How to progress

  1. Create a small innovation team to explore new ideas in a protected space
  2. Begin conducting occasional customer interviews before major projects
  3. Introduce lightweight prototyping before full development commitment

Siloed Experimenter

Isolated initiatives, no system

A few innovation-minded individuals are running experiments, but disconnected from the core business. No governance, no link between what they learn and what the company builds. Engineering teams and innovation teams operate in parallel.

Typical signs

  • “We have an innovation lab but it hasn't changed how we develop products.”
  • “The team ran some customer interviews but nobody in engineering saw the results.”
  • “Good ideas die because there's no process to bring them back to the business.”
  • “We need to 'innovate' this project. Call the lab guys.”

Activities

Occasional hackathons disconnected from the main roadmap. Innovation theater with no business integration.

Results

Concepts die at handover. Low business integration. No impact on how products reach the market.

Strengths

  • Recognition that innovation requires dedicated attention
  • Willingness to experiment with new methodologies
  • Innovation team developing specialized skills

Growth areas

  • Innovation activities disconnected from core business operations
  • Good ideas fail during handover to delivery teams
  • Business units view innovation team as separate from 'real work'

How to progress

  1. Involve business unit representatives in innovation projects from day one
  2. Create formal integration processes between innovation and delivery teams
  3. Measure innovation success by business adoption, not just ideas generated

Checklist Novice

Process exists, conviction doesn't

The organization has adopted some innovation frameworks on paper — stage gates, idea funnels, maybe a canvas or two. But teams follow the process mechanically without genuine commitment to learning from the market. Customer research happens but doesn't change decisions.

Typical signs

  • “We filled in the business model canvas but nobody changed the project based on it.”
  • “Customer validation is a checkbox, not a decision-making input.”
  • “We have a stage-gate process but nothing ever gets killed.”
  • “This innovation stuff takes too long; I have a deadline.”

Activities

Rigid adherence to templates. Box-ticking research without genuine curiosity or willingness to act on findings.

Results

High documentation, low insight. Process slows development without adding value. Nothing gets killed.

Strengths

  • Structured approach to innovation with documented processes
  • Consistent methodology applied across projects
  • Foundation of research practices established

Growth areas

  • Templates and processes followed without understanding their purpose
  • Research conducted to validate existing assumptions rather than discover new insights
  • Heavy documentation that adds overhead without improving decisions

How to progress

  1. Focus on the 'why' behind each process step, not just completion
  2. Encourage teams to challenge assumptions during research
  3. Celebrate surprising discoveries that changed project direction

Guided Practitioner

Market evidence is starting to drive decisions

Teams are genuinely talking to customers and using insights to shape their projects. There is real willingness to adapt or kill projects based on market feedback. But the capability depends on external support — coaches, facilitators, or consultants. It hasn't been internalized yet.

Typical signs

  • “We killed a project last quarter because the market evidence wasn't there — and leadership supported the decision.”
  • “Teams are interviewing customers regularly, but they still need coaching on how to do it well.”
  • “When the consultant leaves, we worry the momentum will stop.”
  • “I feel like we're moving slower, but we're actually learning something.”

Activities

Facilitated workshops led by experts. First attempts at rapid prototyping. Customer evidence starting to inform project decisions.

Results

Mixed success. Learning prioritized over speed. Projects are starting to reflect real market needs.

Strengths

  • Genuine curiosity and willingness to learn from the market
  • Teams comfortable admitting what they don't know
  • Real customer problems being tackled with new approaches

Growth areas

  • Heavy reliance on external facilitators and coaches
  • Inconsistent application of methods across different teams
  • Capability concentrated in a few 'champion' teams

How to progress

  1. Develop internal coaching capability to reduce external dependency
  2. Create playbooks and training for wider team adoption
  3. Integrate customer feedback into the standard development cycle

Integrated Partner

Innovation is embedded in how the company operates

Market validation is part of the standard development process, not a separate activity. Integrated teams combining engineering, commercial, and customer insight work together. The organization can run innovation projects without external support. Portfolio decisions are based on market evidence.

Typical signs

  • “Customer validation is built into every project milestone — it's not optional.”
  • “We make portfolio decisions based on market evidence, not internal politics.”
  • “Our teams can run the full discovery-to-validation process without outside help.”
  • “We killed that feature because the data showed nobody wanted it.”

Activities

Regular customer touchpoints. Ongoing customer feedback built into the development cycle. Structured innovation process across teams.

Results

Reduced rework. Bad ideas killed early. Focus on 'should we build it,' not just 'can we build it.'

Strengths

  • Strong cross-functional collaboration and shared ownership
  • Evidence-based decision making embedded in team culture
  • Ongoing customer engagement as standard practice

Growth areas

  • Market-driven culture strong in product teams but not across the organization
  • Middle management may still create bottlenecks
  • Success stories not systematically shared organization-wide

How to progress

  1. Establish a structured innovation process to scale research and insights across the company
  2. Bring Voice of Customer directly into board-level discussions
  3. Begin coaching support functions on market-driven approaches

Strategic Visionary

Market-driven innovation is the company's competitive advantage

The organization systematically identifies market opportunities, validates them rapidly, and allocates resources based on evidence. Innovation capability is a strategic asset that shapes the company's direction. The company is known in its industry for bringing the right products to market faster than competitors.

Typical signs

  • “Our innovation pipeline directly feeds the company's five-year strategic plan.”
  • “We're the benchmark in our industry for time-to-market on new solutions.”
  • “Competitors wonder how we keep launching products that customers actually want.”
  • “We don't just react to the market; we shape it.”

Activities

Continuous market sensing and validation. Ecosystem-wide innovation and live market experimentation. Structured innovation process fully integrated across all functions.

Results

Market leadership. Consistent product-market fit. High organizational agility and rapid pivoting based on customer evidence.

Strengths

  • Market-driven innovation embedded in organizational DNA across all functions
  • Strategic decisions driven by deep customer understanding
  • Ability to anticipate and shape market trends

Growth areas

  • Maintaining edge requires continuous reinvention
  • Success can breed complacency
  • New market entrants may disrupt from unexpected angles

How to progress

  1. Continue pushing boundaries through constant experimentation
  2. Help shape industry standards and best practices
  3. Stay vigilant for emerging disruptions and customer shifts

Teams that moved up a level

Three organisations that went from building without customers to deciding on customer evidence. The 12-week engagement and the training programmes are how Forward helps a team climb.

How Nissan's Lab builds with customers

Nissan Europe 12 weeks

4 strategic options with no product.

6 MVPs with users.

Ivan Ollivier, General Manager, Innovation Lab

See where your process breaks down

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